Electric rail-bond.



No. 648,08l. Patented Apr. 24, I900. C. F DE REDON. ELECTRIC RAIL BOND.

7 (Application filed Aug. 24, 1899.) (N o M o d e l ig I 5 Wiilrzsses Aliq/67210? 6 5 i y' Altar/26y the rails.

NITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

CONSTANT F. DE REDON, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE WESTINGHOUSEELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF

PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC RAIL-BOND.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 648,081, dated April24:, 1900.

Application filed August 24, 1899. $erial No. 728,254. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CONSTANT F. DE Rnnon, a citizen of the Republic ofFrance, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric Rail-Bonds, (Case No. 1,) of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to improvements in electric rail-bonds, andone'object is to provide an electric-contact connection between tworails by the constant pressure thereon of the conductor Without anynecessity for screwing or riveting the parts together, the conductorbeing kept constantly against the rails by pressure alone and allowingthe rails to expand and contract without affecting the conductor or itscontact with the ralis.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail-bond'which isamply protected against atmospheric infl uences and is entirely durableand permanent in character.

In accordance with my invention the conductor connecting the rails ispreferably held' in contact with the latter by means of springpressureand is not subjected to bending or straining by any expansion orcontraction of The conductor connecting the sections of the rail ispreferably a plate of copper placed against the webs of said sections,so as to connect the same, and is protected from atmospheric conditions,water, dirt, and other foreign matter by means of a soft-metal plate,and said conductor is simply held against the webs of. the rail-sectionsbyconstant pressure without being bolted or riveted thereto. Theconstruction and relative arrangement of the parts are such that therails and their connections may expand or contract at will, while theconductor connecting said rails may remain stationary in all of itsparts.

The nature and objects of the invention will be more fully understoodfrom the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, in

- which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away,of twosections of a railway-rail equipped with the rail-bond constructed inaccordance with and embodying the invention.

Fig. 2is

' the rail-sections.

In the drawings, A B respectively designate the sections of therailway-rail, C C the customary fish -plates, and D the usual boltssecuring said fish plates in the customary manner.

The conductor, which in accordance with the present invention connectsthe rail-sections A B, is designated by the letter E, and, asillustrated more clearly in Fig. 4, said conductor E, which ispreferably of copper, is in the form of a plate provided with contactsF, adapted, as illustrated in Fig. 2, to engage the face of the webs ofthe rails A B. The plate Eis seated within the soft-metal protector G,which is in the form of a plate adapted to fit around the edges of theplateE and around and between the contacts F of said plate E, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The soft metal Gr, located between thecontacts F F, is of sufficient width to cover the joint between therail-sections A B and to at all times prevent water or other foreignmatter from reaching said contacts through said joint. The soft-metalprotector G firmly contacts with the surface of the rails A B and withthe edges of the plates E and preventswater or other foreign inatterfromreaching the contacts F along the sides of the rails. The soft metal Gforms, in effect, a protecting-casing for'the conductor E, and with saidconductor is located betweenthe fish-plate and the web of the rail, saidfish-plate being, as usual, secured firmly in position against the railand in the present instance against the conductor E and soft-metalprotector G, whereby said conductor and said protector are brought intofirm contact with the web-surfaces of the railsections, the contacts F,which are of somewhat-extended surface-area, directlyimpinging saidWeb-surfaces. The fish-plate C, directly over the conducting-plate E andpreferably directly in line with the contacts F F, is formed with theapertures H H, into which arefreely inserted the legs of the U-shapcd orICO bifurcated post I, the inner ends of the members of which contactwith the exterior surface of the conductor E, being thereagainst firmlypressed by means of the spring J, which is secured at one end upon oneof the bolts D and has its other end in contact with the transverse barK, connecting the members of said post I. The bar K is formed with theflanges L L at its upper and lower edges in order to prevent the springJ from moving upward or downward and to retain the end of said springdirectly against the post I. The spring J is of considerable strengthand exerts a constant pressure against the post I and through the latteragainst the conducting-plate E, whereby the latter is preserved inconstant contact with the rail-sections A B without being riveted orbolted or otherwise attached to said railsections. The conducting-plateE, arranged and secured in the manner above explained, is not subjectedto any bending or straining during the expansion and contraction of therail-sections, but preserves its contact with said sections at all timeswithout interfering with the expansion and contraction of said sections.The conducting-plate E while in use is protected against the effects ofwater, moisture, and dirt, and hence it is both lasting and efficient.

The rail-bonds, which have been secured at their ends to rails or partsconnected therewith, so as to be compelled to expand and contract withthe rails, have proved to be inefficient for long service, and thisparticular objection to rail-bonds as heretofore constructed and used isone of the main objects of the present invention to obviate.

The rail-bonds constructed in accordance with the present inventionpossess the merit not only of being simple and comparativelyinexpensive, but of being entirely efficient and lasting.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to obviate anydirect attachment of the conducting-plate to the rail-sections, but tomaintain said plate against the face of the rail-sections by constantpressure without attaching said plate to the rail-sections, leaving therail-sections free to expand and contract at will without affecting theconductingplates, and leaving the conducting-plates entirely free of therails, with the exception of simply having a face-to-face contacttherewith.

I do not limit the invention to the precise form and construction of theparts illustrated in the drawings, since this may vary with theconditions to be met with in carrying the invention into effect.

I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Incombination with the rail, the plate of conducting material connectingthe sections two contacts for engagement with the railsections, thesoft-metal protector encompassing the edges of said plate and saidcontacts, and the spring exerting a constant pressure against saidplate; substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the rail, the conductor connecting the sectionsof same and being in face contact with the webs of said sections, thepost extending through the fish plate and contacting with saidconductor, and the spring flexed against said post substantially as setforth. I

5. In combination with the rail, the plate-' conductor having thecontacts in face contact with the webs of the rail-sections, the posthaving its members extended through the fish-plate and against saidplate-conductor, the bearing at the outer end of said post and thespring flexed against said post and having its end held within saidbearing; substantially as set forth.

6. In combination with the rail, the plateconductor connecting thesections of said rail and contacting with the web'surfaces of same, thebifurcated post having the inner ends of its members in contact withsaid plate and provided at its outer end with the bearing having theedge flanges and the spring flexed against said post and having its freeend between said flanges and againstsaid bearing; substantially as setforth.

7. The combination with the ends of adjacent railway-rails, of arail-bond connecting said ends and contacting therewith, a springpressing the said plate against the said rail ends, and aprotecting-frame of soft material adapted to keep out dust and moisture.

8. The combination with a railway-rail and a conducting-plateconnectingthe sections of the said rail, of a spring held rigidly at oneend, the said spring being adapted to press with its free end the saidplate against the said rail.

